With Group A all sewn up, Jake Pearson is expecting a low-scoring affair between Lyon and Rangers. He provides three bets and a score prediction.
Football betting tips: Europa League
1pt Under 2.5 Goals at 29/20 (BetVictor)
1pt Both Teams To Score ‘NO’ at 17/10 (BetVictor)
1pt Rangers +2 on the corner handicap at 10/11 (Sky Bet)
Lyon have made light work of Group A, winning each of their five matches so far. They have qualified as group winners and as such have little riding on this fixture.
Similarly, this game is also a dead rubber for Rangers, who cemented second spot in the group thanks to a 2-0 win over Sparta Prague last month.
It means the changes will likely be rung by both managers, with Lyon travelling to reigning champions Lille at the weekend, and Rangers facing a tough away game at third-placed Hearts.
It has been a whirlwind few weeks as far as the Ibrox club are concerned, losing their manager Steven Gerrard to Aston Villa. But the early sings under Giovanni van Bronckhorst have been positive, the Gers winning each of their four matches under his command.
This will be a step up for the Glaswegians, as Lyon demonstrated in Scotland at the beginning of the campaign, comfortably beating Rangers 2-0.
Domestically though, things haven’t been going too well for the French side, currently languishing in seventh place in Ligue 1 and having won just one of their last four matches.
Dead rubber to lead to lack of goals
With nothing at stake, intensity will be at a low from both teams, and that points towards a low-scoring affair.
It is a surprise then to see both UNDER 2.5 GOALS and BOTH TEAMS TO SCORE ‘NO’ priced up as the outsiders in their respective markets.
Only West Ham have kept more clean sheets than Lyon in the Europa League this term, with Rangers also recording a shut-out in two of their five matches.
Both Teams To Score has landed in just one of Rangers’ fixtures in the competition, with two of Lyon’s five seeing both teams find the back of the net.
In terms of Over 2.5 Goals, Lyon may have seen all but one of their fixtures go over that threshold, but all of Rangers’ matches have stayed under three goals, including against Lyon back in September.
Only games involving Red Star Belgrade have averaged fewer match goals than games involving Rangers in this season’s Europa League, and of these stats give confidence to both selections.
Profit from Rangers in the corner market
Another bet worth siding with is RANGERS +2 ON THE CORNER HANDICAP.
The first meeting between these two finished 3-3 in terms of the corner count, and though Lyon are favourites to take more corners than the Scots on this occasion, there is no reason to believe they will rack up a vast amount.
Most firms have Rangers heavy odds-on to cover this spread, so the 10/11 certainly makes appeal.
Lyon v Rangers best bets and score prediction
1pt Under 2.5 Goals at 29/20 (BetVictor)
1pt Both Teams To Score ‘NO’ at 17/10 (BetVictor)
1pt Rangers +2 on the corner handicap at 10/11 (Sky Bet)
Score prediction: Lyon 0-0 Rangers (Sky Bet odds: 16/1)
Odds correct at 1140 GMT (07/12/21)
More from Sporting Life
Safer gambling
We are committed in our support of safer gambling. Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.If you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline / GamCare on 0808 8020 133.Further support and information can be found at begambleaware.org and gamblingtherapy.org.
